Nahuel-Hernan Ramos

Introduction Diatoms are a group of eukaryotic microalgae, highly diverse in terms of morphology, cell size, and aquatic habitat (Falciatore & Mock, 2022). A unifying characteristic of diatoms is their ability to precipitate silica to form intricately shaped cell walls, called frustules (Kroger & Poulsen, 2008; Hildebrand et al., 2018). The general layout of the frustule is conserved among diatom species, and consists of two halves. Each half is composed of a valve and a series of girdle bands.